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Suspect in string of robberies arrested

Tallahassee Police Department officers arrested a man suspected of robbing five different businesses over the last two months.

Shortly after noon on Tuesday, TPD says a masked Bobby Wells walked into the Super Lube on Thomasville Road near Betton Road armed with a handgun. The 48-year-old demanded money from an employee, who walked into a bathroom and called 911. As the sound of sirens approached, Wells hopped into a dark SUV, according to TPD spokesman Officer Raymond Garcia.

Another employee caught the vehicle's license plate number and police were able to track Wells to a northwest Tallahassee home.

Through an investigation, Wells was charged with five counts of armed robbery: One for the incident at the Super Lube and four for other robberies he's suspected of committing.

On Nov. 13, a suspect entered Mike's Jewelry on North Monroe Street wearing a Florida State University sweatshirt, sunglasses and carrying a black Nike duffle bag. Court documents said he pointed a handgun at the clerk and demanded money. But the clerk pulled a weapon of his own and the suspect fled the scene.

On Nov. 17, a man went into the Starbucks on North Monroe Street and Fred George Road wearing a ski mask. He pointed a handgun at the clerk and demanded money from the register and the store's safe. When the time lock on the safe began to beep, the nervous suspect left the store in a dark SUV.

On Nov. 25, a man walked into the Dollar General Store on North Monroe Street, just south of the Starbucks, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a black ski mask and carrying the same Nike duffle bag as seen in the Mike's Jewelry robbery. The suspect pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded money from the cash registers. The clerk emptied the registers into the duffle bag and the man left the scene.

On Dec. 9, a man walked into the ABC Fine Wine & Spirits on West Tennessee Street near Stadium Drive wearing a black ski mask. He pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded money from the cash registers, court documents said. The victim unsuccessfully hit the store's panic alarm and then placed the register's cash into a money bag. The victim gave the bag to the suspect who then left.

Investigators searched Well's Hotchkiss Lane home on Tuesday and recovered an older, rusted black handgun that matched the weapon used in all of the robberies; a black Nike duffle bag used during two of the robberies; white tennis shoes used during the Super Lube robbery and black shoes seen on surveillance video in four of the robberies.